Brisbane researchers to revolutionise Paralympic classifications

Updated
November 01, 2013 22:32:00

The classifications for Paralympic athletes with a physical disablity are set to be overhauled with University of Queensland researchers developing objective machine based tests to measure impairments.

MATT WORDSWORTH: The way paralympic athletes are classified is set to be revolutionised. The University of Queensland is one of just three centres worldwide selected to develop new ways of measuring impairments. Brisbane researchers are focusing on athletes with a physical disability. And as Jennifer Huxley reports it's hoped the findings will lead to fairer competition.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: Even before he was charged with murdering his girlfriend Oscar Pistorius was a controversial figure. The world's best known athlete with a disability he competed at both the Paralympics and the Olympic games in 2012. A double-amputee, he was allowed to race single amputees and beat them by huge margins.

DR SEAN TWEEDY, CLASSIFICATION RESEARCHER: The symmetry that is afforded by bi-lateral amputation as well as advances in technology have put the double amputees now in a position now where it appears they have an advantage.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: The Paralympic classification system is supposed to pit people of equal abilities against each other. But it's not an exact science.

DR SEAN TWEEDY: One of the most asked questions is what if athletes cheat; what if they decided no I want to look more impaired than I really am?

JENNIFER HUXLEY: Dr Sean Tweedy and his team at the University of Queensland have been chosen by Paralympic administrators to help reduce the vagaries of the system. An accredited classifier Dr Tweedy knows just how subjective the current measures for physical impairments like cerebral palsy can be.

DR SEAN TWEEDY: To measure the strength of Emma's elbow flexor, so the muscles that pull her hand up to her shoulder, I'd ask her in the first instance to take her hand up to her shoulder and if she could do that without any resistance then I'd take her up to the midpoint there of the range where she's nice and strong I'm going to try and pull her arm straight and want you to resist me as strongly as you can, I'm going to start pulling hold it hold it Emma keep holding ok and relax and I can feel from that its normal resistance and I'd give a muscle grade then from between zero and five.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: Athletes are tested by different classifiers who could have different perceptions of strength or co-ordination.

JARROD LARKINS-LAW, PARAROOS PLAYER: The grey area is definitely there when you go over and play other countries, other players you see them and you wonder what classification they are and some of the countries you just don't have a clue.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: Now Dr Tweedy has been asked to design machine-based, objective tests.

DR SEAN TWEEDY: From clinical judgement towards instrumented measures. And with numerical outcomes that we can analyse and keep records of that are highly accurate and precise.

REBECCA DEUBLE, PHD STUDENT: This is a measure of co-ordination, so this test is specific to running. So it's measuring a person's ability to tap between target areas. So it's more the speed we're looking at in terms of comparing athletes so someone that has got more severe co-ordination impairment they're going to achieve slower movement times.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: The research team is building a database to establish the relationship between the machine-based results and athletic performance for example on the track.

DR SEAN TWEEDY: So it's competitive running throwing jumping and wheel chair pushing those are the ones that we'll focus on at the moment we expect a very good translation in to other sports.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: But sourcing enough participants is proving to be a problem. Researchers need 150 to 200 people for each action tested so they're heading to Kenya.

DR SEAN TWEEDY: It's an excellent population to look at because everyone knows Kenyans can run. Unfortunately they also have a lot of disability if you do have a disability in Kenya and can possibly run then you will.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: Dr Tweedy's findings and those of the sister research centres in the Netherlands and Belgium will be used as the Paralympic movement's model for a completely new classification system. While that won't be in place for the 2016 games in Rio de Janerio the system could ensure fairer competition in Tokyo in 2020.

DR SEAN TWEEDY: The effects athletes and coaches and the structure of the competition, all those things really have to be thought through very thoroughly so there's a lot of translational work.

JENNIFER HUXLEY: Athletes like Jarrod Larkins-Law, say it will be worth the wait.

JARROD LARKINS-LAW: It's a fair thing. So I was an eight which is the least affected and now I'm a seven which means I'm a little bit more affected so it's cool that they're putting their time into this to change the studies to make sure that the grey area is as little as possible.